What should you feed a hard keeper that is also prone to ulcers?

Horses vary a great deal in what level of nutrition is required to maintain desired body condition and muscle mass. Horses have not been selected or bred based on feed efficiency, feed conversion, or rate of gain, so there a lot of variation between horses.

A horse that is a hard keeper could require more Calories per day to maintain body condition than an easy keeper doing the same work. One way to help this horse will be to feed high quality forage that has a high relative feed value that is associated with higher digestible energy per pound. A good choice might be an alfalfa or alfalfa/grass mix that was cut at early maturity so it has fine stems and lots of leaves. This hay could be fed free choice or at least three to four times per day at a rate of about 2% body weight or above per day.

The hard keeper could also benefit from a commercial feed that is high fat (8-9% or higher) and controlled starch and sugar (so it can be fed at higher levels) with amino acid fortification (lysine, methionine, and threonine) to help maintain muscle mass. This feed can be fed a minimum of two times per day, and preferably three to four times per day so that the quantity being fed can be increased while controlling risk of starch overload through smaller individual meals. The quantity can be increased with the desired forage to produce weight gain, and then adjusted to maintain desired weight